Laura Woolsey Lord Scales (November 13, 1879 – June 12, 1990) was an American educator and college dean.
Laura Scales | |
---|---|
Born | November 13, 1879 |
Died | June 12, 1990 (aged 110 years, 211 days) |
Occupation(s) | College dean, educator |
Known for | Dean of Students, Smith College, 1922 to 1944 |
Scales was the daughter of John King Lord (1848–1926),[1] a historian who served as acting president of Dartmouth College in 1892 and 1893;[2] her two brothers became a professor of anatomy and a publisher.[1] She graduated from Smith College in 1901 and in 1908 married Robert Leighton Scales (1880–1912), a lawyer and former English instructor at Dartmouth who coauthored the debate book Argumentation and Debate.[3] In 1913, after Scales' death, she became an instructor at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts,[4][5] before resigning in 1920 to become dean of women at the Carnegie Institute of Technology.[6] She then returned to Smith, where she served as dean of students for 22 years (1922–1944).[7] In order to create a sense of community spirit, Scales instituted a policy that all students live on the campus.[7]
Scales died in 1990 aged 110 years and 211 days, one of the oldest people in the world at the time. The Massachusetts legislature issued a resolution in honor of her 110th birthday in 1989.[8] Her papers are archived at Smith College.[7]
Smith gave Scales an honorary doctorate of humane letters in 1931, and Dartmouth College awarded her an honorary doctorate in literature eight years later.[6] In 1936, Smith College named a newly built dormitory the Laura Scales House;[9][7] notable residents have included Gloria Steinem.[10]